every little thing
by golden doe
Summary: In an alternate universe, they still belonged together—sasusaku.  drabble 04. It was the one night lovers should attend together.
1. i: start

title: every little thing

summary: Puppy love. Unrequited love. True love. Impossible love. The romance that was not meant to be. Seven years later, we were supposed to have moved on. AU. SasuSaku

notes: because the 23rd approaches and I _need_ to _vent_.

lyrics from We The Kings' 'Over You'

[disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.]

written: (start) 18/09/11 – 1:13 a.m.

* * *

><p>.:.<p>

_Here's to the nights I cared,_

_To the night you left_

_I'll pour you a drink_

_And toast to the end_

_Here's the scene of the crime_

_Left me here to die_

_I'm finally over you_

.:.

I wonder how long it has been since I last saw him, as I stand before 'our place of memories,' the place where we spent most of time after school during third grade. I chuckled. Who am I kidding? There's no use wondering how long it has been, because I know how long it has been. Seven years later and I could still remember the exact hour and the exact date when I last laid my eyes on him, and exchanged the fewest of words.

I am seventeen now. In five days, he's turning seventeen too. I haven't seen him for seven years, six months and some days—I could use a day calculator to count the exact days but I can't be bothered. After all, I am trying my best to let go of him, to forget him.

I haven't chatted with him (through facebook or messenger) in about two months—it was our only communication. Texting him costs too much, and so is calling him. Skype is also a possible practical option, but that would be pushing it too far.

After all, I was the one who nagged him to make an account to facebook—I was his very first friend, you know!—so it'd easier for me (and him) to contact each other.

What a mistake that was, though.

Him, having a facebook account, and knowing what is going on in his life breaks my heart. Why, you ask? Because he has a girlfriend. At least, I think he does. His profile didn't have the "In a relationship" status, but I saw a rather intimate photo of him with a girl. Well. that if you call simply standing next to a girl "intimate."

Talk about being possessive and jealous huh?

I guess I am not just used to seeing him with a girl who is not me.

I suppose it's natural that he has other female friends though. He transferred to another school during fourth grade (we were turning ten years old then), and we didn't have any form of communication. Sure there is this thing called phone, and I have his home phone number, but what I am supposed to say? It would only be awkward. Not to mention, my parents (especially my mother) were—still is—quite strict with me being close friends with a guy.

The first year of his absence was hard. I didn't realize how lonely I was without him, how he was my only (closecloseclose) friend, and that I have no one else without him, until that year. Naturally, I had a new best friend—a girl, this time and she was tolerable—but _he_ was still the best of all the best.

Did I mention I had this huge crush on him since second grade?

I didn't have another crush on another guy until two years later. I guess I fell in love with him, puppy love but love nonetheless. For the next four years, I hoped nothing else than for him to come back, or to at least catch a glimpse of him.

I caught a glimpse of him. The year before I migrated out of the country, I did.

I was at the mall, then, with my cousin. We were just walking, but we were in a hurry. I can't remember to this day, why, but we were. I remembering heading towards the department store when I thought I saw him. We passed by each other—I think it was his dad he was with, and I turned so fast I thought I had a whiplash. I saw him turn towards me, too, but I could've just imagined it.

To this day, I regret not going after him, and confirming he truly was my best friend.

That was freshman year. I stayed in the same school throughout the years, because I hoped he'd come back. How foolish and naive I was? So so _so_ stupid!

Freshman year was when many of my friends from elementary school who transferred to another school came back, so I kinda hoped he would too. Ironically, freshman year was my last year in that school, and I thought nothing but 'what if' he came back and I was no longer there?

During the middle of sophomore year, I took an evening flight to the United States. I never saw him again.

Less than a year later, in tenth grade, my lab partner asked me out. When he did, the first thing that popped into my mind was:

"What would he _think_ if he learns I got a boyfriend?"

I told the guy to give me a day to answer him. He did. The following day, I rejected him, spouting all these nonsense about my parents being strict, and me prioritizing school. He was alright with it, we were never 'officially' dating but we acted like it anyway.

It was August of that year—or was it July?—I can't remember, really. But I knew it was at least a week after the twenty third, marking my first year abroad. Yep, I arrived in the U.S. on the 23rd of July. I didn't know it was his birthday, though—I forgot it was his birthday. Anyway, either July or August, that was the time I found him through a mutual friend—one of our classmates from third grade who I kept in contact with—who told me they are school mates. What a shocker! Truly, it was. It was such a small world.

That mutual friend, whose name is Naruto by the way, said that my bff didn't recognize him. I asked him if he has his contact details but he didn't. Luckily I have another friend going to that school, and asked her about him. She was able to get his email address and messenger id through a mutual friend of theirs.

I felt like a freaking stalker. I didn't care anyways, though I was nervous as hell. What if he doesn't remember me?

I added him. And sent him a 'hello, long time no see. Do you still remember me? It's your best friend, Sakura' message. A week later, he replied, and said he did. He still remembered me when he didn't remember Naruto? That's got to mean something, right?

We chatted almost every night until the end of that year. I kept telling him to go make a facebook account, and he did as I had told you—almost half a year later—and OMG! I was his first friend! I am sorry if I am repetitive.

I'd pour my heart out to him during our chats. When I told him how lonely I feel, he told me I didn't need to be sad and lonely anymore, because "he'd be there for me."

However, entering eleventh grade was not a walk in the park. I had to stay away from social networking sites and internet to concentrate. That didn't mean I stopped thinking and daydreaming about him.

So our last string—a rather fragile string—of communication went static. We both became too busy to chat with each other, but we never failed to post a birthday greeting to each other. That always made me happy.

As I entered twelfth grade, so did my third year out of the country. I haven't been home for almost three years. Plane tickets are so expensive, you know? Not even my part-time job was able to sustain it.

The desire to buy a damn expensive ticket to go home escalated when I found him through facebook, but there was nothing I could do about it. So I was stuck there. But I was not without excuses as to why I could not go home and see him. I fed my mind and wove a web of lies to myself several excuses as to why I could not go home, not yet.

Being in senior year and graduating in three months left no room for excuses. My studies were the last excuse I had left of me, because I go on a rampage to go home. Then one day, during my long term abstinence from facebook, I needed to access my account, and that was when I saw his picture with a girl.

I realized he had moved on, and I needed too. My memories of him are deteriorating, after all.

So I kept telling myself in a mantra that I didn't need to go home anymore, because I am home. Homehomehomehomehomehome.

.:.

_When it rains it really pours_

_Now the sun is kicking in_

.:.

I repeated that to myself all over again, before crying myself to sleep. That's what I always do, crycrycrycry. Such a weakling. I've crying since I got here. I get emotionally most especially during July—not just because it's his birthday, but because it was time I arrived here.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it there. I love it there; it was a paradise to me. I just wanted to see him is all, to get the closure I never got. Because the last words we exchanged on that fateful day of the twenty-first of March was not "goodbye" but "hi."

.:.

_There's so much I wanna say_

_Something you won't understand_

.:.

I never got to say goodbye to him. But most of all, I never got to tell him how much I felt about him, how much I loved him.

As I said in the beginning, I am currently standing before the 'place of our memories'—a grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where we'd sit and talk and wait for our cars to fetch us. It is located outside the school, but we always lied to the security guard at the gates that our parents were already there to pick us up so we'd be able to hang out there.

In case you're getting confused... well, yes, I am (_finally_) back to Japan. I just arrived yesterday morning. I took the evening flight back to Japan the day of my graduation—it was my parents' graduation gift. Now, I am back to our special place.

I didn't tell him, nor anyone for that matter, that I am going home or that I am already home. I decided I won't try to see him anymore, for the fear of doing something foolish.

But I came to this place to retrieve something important, something I left when I was nine and young and naive and foolish.

"What are you doing here?" a masculine voice asked behind me. I didn't recognize the voice, but he didn't seem to be a bad guy, so I didn't care. I didn't turn towards him, but I answered him nonetheless.

"I came here to retrieve something."

"Oh?"

"Something important."

"You left something important to you here?" I could hear the incredulity in his voice.

"I didn't exactly leave it here, you know," I tell him, but I refuse to face him.

The silence that followed was a loud unspoken question in my ears.

"Long ago, I dropped my heart here. Now, I came here to retrieve it."

"Surely, by now, you have taken it back right?" I can hear the amusement in his tone.

The shake of my head tell him otherwise.

Before I knew it, I am pouring my heart out to a guy—a stranger nonetheless.

"I didn't realize when I dropped it, that it also broke into shattered pieces. I was trying to collect the pieces... to glue them back together."

I am so caught up in my dialogue I didn't feel him approach, moving closer to me, until he is at my back, his breath warm against the back of my neck.

"You know why you can't fix it, Sakura?" I stiffen, how did he know my name? Surely I would remember if I tell a stranger my name?

Before I could open my mouth to say something though, he continued speaking.

"Because you were picking at the wrong pieces."

.:.

I know it took a little while

I know I cried a couple tears

Every step was like a mile

Every day a million tears

.:.

* * *

><p>written: (finish) 1809/11 – 2:25 a.m. [because i don't have a life, and i am insomniac]

i didn't like the ending, but it was the best i could come up with, i think. though i leave the last line to your interpretation, though. please read and review! i wish to hear (or rather, read) your thoughts about this.

to those readers of _Pride be damned_ out there, second and third chapter are already written like, since last week... but i can't think of a better ending for the second chapter.

i also have another story coming up: a post war multi-chaptered drabble fic. the prologue's posted in my lj account.


	2. xii: humming

title: humming

summary: Little did she know that her humming was distracting and making his pants tighten... uncomfortably. AU. SasuSaku

inspiration(s): skype and upcoming physics finals.

warning: this is totally random, and sasuke is adorably out of character (_i_ think)

written: (start) 27/10/11 – 5:21 p.m.

* * *

><p><em>"Why can't we just talk through the phone?"<em>

_"Because," she said, obviously frustrated with his constant asking, "nii-san is using the phone. I swear, he's such a girl... talking for hours nonstop."_

_"Then tell him to stop."_

_"I did. Apparently though, he and your dear older brother have something important to discuss."_

_"Then why don't you just use your mobile?"_

_"Are you insane? I'm on prepaid, you know, unlike you Mr. I-can-afford-unlimited-plans. Why don't _you_ call me?"_

_"Okay, okay, I give up. I see your point."_

_"I knew you would, Sasuke-kun."_

.

.

.

He sent a glare towards his laptop, where a soft (annoying) feminine hum originates.

"Sakura," he started, frustration evidently lacing his voice, running a hand through his hair, "can you _please_ stop humming? It's fucking distracting." He didn't think it appropriate to tell her that her feminine sounds was making him _uncomfortable_, his pants feeling tighter by the second.

The humming stops (thankfully), but the silence that followed made him uncomfortable again (though in a complete different reason).

Looking up from his desk, his physics exercise book lay open before him, several questions requiring him to calculate the gravitational field strength (in the current question he was doing before he had to tell Sakura off) of Planet X, he glanced at his laptop screen, where his pink-haired best friend could be seen bent over her desk, furiously jutting down solutions and answers across her own exercise book before taking her scientific calculator to obviously calculate whatever she was calculating.

It was comforting to see that she was _still_ there, but he preferred it when she was making a sound, that way, he didn't have to look up from his work just to... check her—to see if she was still there. Then realized it was actually his fault because he was, after all, the one who told her to stop humming because it was "distracting". He chastised himself for forgetting that she had a habit of being uncharacteristically quiet when focussed on something, and that humming was her way of making up for the lack of sound.

He sighed, thinking of a way that he could illicit a response from her—she didn't like being interrupted for thing non-related to the work present before her.

"Sakura?" he said

"Hmm?"

"What's the Universal gravitational constant again?"

"Oh, it's six-point-six-seven-times-ten-to-the-negative-eleven."

"Thanks," he mumbled, still unable to believe he asked her something _like that_ just to get her to talk. Especially when he memorized all the physical constants by heart.

Then the humming starts again. He didn't know whether be relieved or annoyed.

.

.

.

"_Oi, Sasuke-kun?"_

_"What _now_, Sakura?"_

_"Oh, are you already asleep?"_

_"You know I go to sleep at eight-thirty."_

_"Well, there's something wrong with you."_

_A groan. "Whatever. What do you want?"_

_"What did you get on number eight?"_

_"You woke me up just for *that*?"_

_"Hey! This is important, you know."_

_"There should be solutions at the back of the textbook."_

_"Like I don't know that. Why'd you think I'd call you during your beauty sleep if I didn't know?'"_

_A smug smirk. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you just wanted to hear my voice?"_

_"Ugh, you're so insufferably conceited and egotistical, you know that?"_

_"You never fail to remind me."_

_"Because you _so _damn are."_

_"Now, what do you want?"_

_"I already told you!"_

_"We strayed off the topic long enough for my sleepy mind to remember."_

_"I was asking you what you got for number eight!" she hissed._

_"And I told you to look at the back of the book." God, sometimes she could be such..._

_"Well, my answer didn't match with it."_

_"Just do it again."_

_"I did! Twenty-two times, and I got the same answer."_

_"Can't this wait 'til tomorrow? In class?"_

_"No! Sasuke-kun, please!"_

_A sigh escaped his lips. "Fine. What did you get?"_

_She told him._

_"Yeah, it matched with mine. Now can I go back to sleep?" (Though he didn't really know, 'coz he didn't bother getting up just to check his answers and compare it with hers.)_

_"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, Sasuke-kun! You're the best, best, best—"_

_"Goodnight, Sakura."_

_Click._

* * *

><p>written: (finish) 2710/11 – 6:07 p.m.

so i've got this bunch of several _every little thing_drabbles, though most of them still needs revising and editing. this is actually my twelfth (can you believe it?) drabble. done in over forty minutes, including the editing. i was doing this in the kitchen, while cooking, resulting to two burnt slices of pork (lol)

reviews are_ highly_ appreciated.


	3. 0: of dreams and reality

note(s): yes, this was my other one shot from another story. i just moved it here because i deleted that other one.

_**/**inspired by 'we'll be a dream'—the most heartbreaking and _greatest _story _I_ have ever read—by rawrchelle, because as painful as it might sound 'we'll be a dream' is my _reality_ and _this_ story_ is _my dream.__**\**_

Title: of dreams and reality

Genre: Drama & Romance

Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke & Haruno Sakura

Rating: K+

Summary: Where forevers don't exist, reality is just an illusion, and memories are just half-remembered dreams. In which, she wanted to take a leaf out of Sasuke's book, but she just couldn't... because unlike him, she stopped believing altogether. AU.

* * *

><p>Maybe I should start taking a leaf out of Sasuke's book.<p>

"What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality."

...unlike him though, I simply stopped believing.

* * *

><p><strong>\<strong>At 17**\**

I. incoherent thoughts

The first year has been bestowed of light drizzles and occasional rain.

The rain strengthened during the second year.

By the third year, a great storm – that will last for the next several years – wreak havoc, breaking and shattering all the pillars and foundations, leaving no home for hope.

Her first year was filled with optimism and enthusiasm.

As the second year approaches, she began to cling to false hopes and orchestrated webs of lies to fulfil the growing emptiness in her heart.

On the third year? Well, she just gave up. She knew there was nothing she could do—but cry; not when darkness loomed over refusing to allow a single shimmer of light to break through.

It was her false sense of optimism and refusal of give up that gave her false hope. For two years, she clung blindly to an unseen shimmer of hope. By the third year, she just gave up... and asked, "what's the point?" but found no answer.

She had broken countless promises. And when she asked for several extensions, who were they to refuse? But her promises were long overdue, and she knew it was futile.

Punctuality is a display of enthusiasm, she would always say. Thinking back she realized that Naruto – who she'd always scold – had only been tardy for an hour or so on numerous occasions, but unlike him not only had she been _late_, she had been late for _three years_.

Naruto would always say, "It's better late than never, y'know Sakura-chan!"

A lone tear escaped her right eye – the prelude to another storm of tears – when she realized it would be _forever _'never' for her.

She was tired.

She knew it was hopeless.

It was painful and heart wrenching.

But what could she do?

She was just seventeen, and there was nothing she could _ever_ do.

[...so she decided to completely ignore the silent calling of home.]

* * *

><p><em>Hell, how annoying was she?<br>_

_...hn.  
><em>

_And how bizarre was the colour of her hair?  
><em>

_...  
><em>

_I wonder if she would keep it that way or if she would dye it?  
><em>

_...  
><em>

_Do you think she'd dye it?  
><em>

_...  
><em>

_Have you heard from her lately?  
><em>

_... _[no. That was the truth, no matter how annoying it was.]

_Weird, she isn't online tonight...  
><em>

_... _[a sigh escaped his lips. Heck, she's late.]

_She hasn't been online lately, at all... _[his ears perked in horror. Naruto sounded dejected and boy, 'Naruto' and 'dejected' were never seen in the same sentence. He was always so... cheerful.]

_...  
><em>

_Did she call you yet, or something?  
><em>

_hn. _[no shit, she hasn't. You think I'd be talking to you at all if she has?]

_She must be busy, yeah?  
><em>

_hn. _[for nearly three months? as if.]

_I miss her. Do you miss her, Sasuke?  
><em>

_hn. _[what do you think, dobe?]

_She's been gone for nearly three years, too. _[he sounded dejected, **again.**]

_hn. _[it's been too long.]

_And she said she'll attend our graduation! _[and now he's pouting!]

_... _[he didn't say anything. Dobe, if you don't remember she _actually_ promised she'll be back by our senior year to graduate with us.]

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

Question: Promises are meant to be broken, so why do people still make promises and hope for it to happen?

Answer: Maybe it's because of the fact that even though there have been countless of broken promises throughout the history of men; there are still promises that are kept. Not all promises have been broken you know.

.

.

.

_Oi, Sasuke... Sakura-chan hasn't replied to any of my emails yet. And I've been sending her emails like every week. She didn't reply to any of them for almost half a year!  
><em>

_...  
><em>

_She can't be _that _busy, can she? _[he sounded doubtful. Naruto's been like that lately, just as Sakura had been non-existent lately]

_... _[hell, no.]

_I'm worried, Sasuke...  
><em>

... [because there was simply nothing he could say]

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

I tried not to think, so I would forget.

I tried not to feel, so I wouldn't remember.

I tried not to see, so I wouldn't miss. [anything at all]

I tried not to sleep, because I didn't want to dream.

.

.

.

**\**And they were 18**\**

_It's been a year! She hasn't answered to any of my emails, and I can't contact her phone anymore. _[after they lost contact with her a few months ago, whenever he'd call, the phone would still ring but no one answers]

_... _[he didn't show it but he was worried. He knew Naruto know that too.]

_It's so unlike her! She didn't even greet me on my birthday! She didn't send me that personalize card of hers!  
><em>

_..._[idiot, she didn't send me one too.]

_Sasuke... what do we do?  
><em>

_... _[he wants to go after her. They have her home address and all but...]

_And can you believe it? All the letters I sent her were sent back!  
><em>

_... _[...that too. The letters he sent her were all returned with a red stamp that says 'RTS.' There's a possibility they've moved... again]

_There's no way she'd avoid us! Sakura-chan will never do that to us!  
><em>

_...just shut up, dobe. _[he knew Sakura will never do that, not to him. Maybe to Naruto, he thought evilly]

* * *

><p><strong>\<strong>Finally 21**\**

II. false sense of invincibility

They've finally graduated from college.

Twenty one and freshly graduated from Todai Business School, Sasuke had never felt so invincible.

He worked through his college years.

He saved up money during the four years he spent in college.

And now, he had the enough amount of money to go after _her_.

[Wait for me, I beg you.]  
>-<p>

Australia.

The moment his foot touched its soil, he felt it.

Her presence, that is.

He could just feel her, almost touch her.

He could smell a hint of her cologne.

He knew she was still here.

And he knew just where to find her.

[but...]

She was no longer there.

He went to the real estate agency, and demanded _when_ the Harunos left the residence.

He never knew there would be a time when his would ever fell.

"...about two years ago," the receptionist told him, and his heart shattered.

He knew then that his worst fears were confirmed.

She was _avoiding_ them.

Something he never knew she was—or would be—capable of, ever.

[I thought you love me?]

He wanted to yell to the world.

* * *

><p><em>Ne, teme!<br>_

_..._[grunt]

_...accept it, teme _[Naruto said sadly]_. Sakura-chan's not coming back. You should just give up on her, and get yourself a girlfriend.  
><em>

_..._[he sent him the sharpest of glares; enough to pierce and kill] _Who told you I was waiting for her, dobe?  
><em>

[Naruto shook his head sympathetically. He didn't say anything. He knew his best friend was just in denial.]

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

I had another one of those nightmares, the one that have always haunted me every night for the past years.

A few months or so earlier, they weren't much of a nightmare really—at least, I didn't think they were—I had always thought they were dreams.

Dreams that would soon come to reality.

But after so long of having these what-I-believed-and-to-be dreams, and none have yet come to reality, I realized something.

They weren't dreams; they were nightmares.

It was then that I stopped dreaming, because dreams do not happen in the real world.

Not to me, anyways.

Dreams do not exists, just nightmares.

The things you see in your dreams always never happen.

Always.

[so why continue dreaming?]

.

.

.

**\**Forever 21**\**

III. the prelude that was yesterday

When she woke up that morning, her pillows were soaked through. Again. It was as if the heavy rain outside managed to slip through the roof and soak her pillows. If only that was the case. She knew she had been crying. Again. As if she hadn't done so for seven years. She thought that by now, she'd have dehydrated herself from her endless crying spells, but seven years later she was still crying.

Four years passed ever since she severed all her communications with _those guys_. Yet still, that didn't change the fact that she still missed them. Not even her seventh – or is it, eight? she lost count already – boyfriend could keep her happy.

She hoped that—no, Haruno Sakura had long given up on hope. She practically had given up on everything. She pursued a career she hated the most, and spent days and nights to achieve the best she could be.

She became a lawyer.

.

.

.

I realized I should_n't_ have lied

but then I didn't want them to _think_ otherwise.

It was a _white_ lie,

so I thought there _should_ be no regrets.

By the time the _tenth_ year have I arrived,

I realized _something._

If only I didn't try to be a martyr,

and was a _little_ bit selfish,

maybe I _wouldn't_ have to suffer a decade of _indefinite_ rain.

.

.

.

**\**Already 24**\**

Another three years has passed and the name _Haruno Sakura_ had gained fame throughout numerous law firms across Australia. It had been ten years, since she last saw home. And even though she now had the every resource to come home, she never did. Even though, she had practically gone all over the world. She went to the United States, she went to Canada, she went all over Europe... to France... London, she went cruising... she did all that; spent all those dollars but she never went back to Japan.

She _almost_ got engaged on more than several occasions, only to turn them all down. She was presented from a 0.5 carats solitaire diamond ring to about 3 carats of diamond and ruby ring, but she rejected them all.

She continued to live without them, a fake smile that never reached her eyes painting her face. Her eyes hidden behind a pair of spectacles, successfully concealing the redness and puffiness of her eyes every morning.

It had been a decade of never-ending rain. And in all truth, with each passing year the storm only worsened.

* * *

><p><em>Oi, teme! Have you found Sakura-chan yet?<br>_

[he smirked]_ Not yet, dobe.  
><em>

_Are you sure you're going to find her? Are you even sure that Sakura-chan's still there? _[he's being doubtful again. And doubtful Naruto was annoying.]

_hn. [_he never told Naruto that he found conclusive evidence that Sakura was avoiding them for all these years. He didn't want to – believe or not, folks – to break his heart.]

* * *

><p><strong>\<strong>Lucky Number 25**\**

IV. let's cross the border line between dreams and reality

[He kept it with him, at all times. Just in case.]

At the age of twenty-five, he became successful in the business field and assisted his older brother to expand the territories of their family's business empire. For three years he stayed in Australia; he knew she was still there. So for three years, unless _really_ needed, he opted not to leave the country. But his older brother, Itachi, was no superhuman. And being the good little brother that he was, he would occasionally attend business conference and convention – that were always half the world away – just to keep the name of the company. Those were _really_ rare occasions, though. Itachi – somehow he was and Sasuke had no idea how – aware of the fact why his dubbed _foolish little brother_ loathed to leave continent.

[He kept it with him, at all times. Just in case.]

Just because she told him when they were younger – more than a decade ago – how she wanted to be proposed at and engaged with the man of her dreams.

He scoffed at the thought. _Man of her dreams,_ huh? Dreams were futile. If you want a happily ever after, you wouldn't want something that was just a dream. You'd want something real. Something... that exists. Not something as non-existent and unrealistic as dreams. And he wouldn't be the _man of her dreams _because he'd be there. As real as he could be.

Now, if only he'd just catch a glimpse of something pink.

.

.

.

I never believed in _forever_s because I knew _nothing_ lasts forever.

That was why even though she had been gone for three years, even if she wasn't able to keep a single promise, I knew she'd be back.

My only mistake was that I didn't think she'd give up hoping, because I forgot that there were no exceptions—not even Sakura.

Even _Sakura_ won't be able to keep hoping forever.

Because that was the reality.

.

.

.

* * *

><p><em>Will... you, will you miss me...?<br>_

[there was that hesitation—again—afraid he'd say what she feared he'd say]

_Because I know I... will miss you.  
><em>

[he stared into her deep green eyes, feeling himself fall in the depths of her murky green eyes.]

..._Sasuke?  
><em>

[for once, he'd say it. so she better be listening.]

..._Sasuke?  
><em>

_You're annoying, but I'll miss you._

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

She should've known they'd be just—and nothing but—a dream.

That no matter how long, how hard, she hoped, they'd never be together.

Because they weren't meant to be anything but a dream.

Thinking back, she shouldn't have carelessly made those promises.

Because not only did she make them hope;

Those promises had also become her chains – the chains bounding her to her past.

Sasuke had been right;

dreams will never be as real as the reality.

...the reality she dreamt of.

.

.

.

* * *

><p><em>Foolish little brother.<em>

[he turned to scowl at his older brother – heck, he hated it when his older brother addressed him as such outside – but froze when his eyes found those familiar _green _eyes—that uncharacteristically didn't reflect that joy of his own dark ones]

_I'd like you to meet my ex-_fiancée_, Haruro Sakura_.

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

By the time I was seventeen,

I stopped believing.

I realized that fairytales and happily-ever-afters are just clichéd overused plotlines.

So I just stopped waiting for you—

—my great knight in shining armour whom I've always dreamt of.

Because dreams are _just _dreams;

nothing more, nothing less.

.

.

.

V. hide and seek

Maybe somewhere deep down there, he knew that fact. After all he was Uchiha Sasuke. And Uchiha Sasuke knew everything. But when she saw his eyes widen in horror, _maybe_, she thought, _he didn't_ because after all he's still human.

While her own green eyes projected horror, his own dark ones projected something... something she _never _saw—or never would've expected nor wanted to see—in his eyes.

[pain?

Despair?

Disbelief?

Shattered hope?]

Those were the emotions that she knew only _she _would project in her eyes, not in Sasuke's.

Right then, right there, she wanted to cry. And she knew he wanted, too.

She turned away from his piercing dark eyes, just before a lone tear escaped her right eye.

It was another prelude to another storm—that night, it might be even a cyclone—so without excusing herself, she ran.

.

.

.

babe, I'm tired of this game—

—this childish game of hide and seek.

but heck, if I have to...

I'd search the whole world,

looking for you.

because I want to find you so badly it aches,

and I know you want to be found as well.

so yeah, please...

please stop running away from me,

and come out.

.

.

.

Having looked for her for the past seven years, to actually meet her in person after being introduced—or in their case, reintroduced—by his older brother as his ex-_fiancée._ Ex or not, it still didn't change the fact that not only did she shun them from her life, she had also... moved on.

Itachi regarded his dubbed _foolish little _brother, who—after gazing after the running figure of the damsel in distress—decided to glare at him.

"What?"

"How long?" he gritted out, anger lacing his tone.

"How long?" Itachi repeated in confusion.

"Yes," Sasuke said impatiently, "how long were you...?"

[but he couldn't say it. saying anything more would be like pouring salt into his fresh wound]

The older Uchiha sighed, but answered nonetheless. "A year or so? Seriously, Sasuke I don't—"

"Did she cry _within_ that time?"

"Not because of _me_,"

[he knew what Itachi was implying, because he realized that his older brother knew _everything_]

The younger Uchiha turned away, preparing to run after _his_ damsel in distress, but a larger hand than his own grabbed his arm.

He turned back to his older brother—who, for some reason, had that uncharacteristic sadistic smile—irritatingly.

"What!"

Itachi leaned over his ear, and whispered words he had no idea of, so he ignored him and ran.

Had he had the heart to look back—which he did not, because his heart was snatched away by that girl—he would've seen the smirk across his older brother's face.

"_I'm expecting half of your winnings in my bank account within a week."_

* * *

><p><em>Had it not crossed your mind, my foolish little brother, that maybe that girl wasn't avoiding you?<br>_

_...what do you mean?  
><em>

_You never thought that _maybe_—_just maybe—_that girl wanted _you_ to _go _after her and _find _her?  
><em>

* * *

><p>VI. believe it! or not.<p>

When she finally re-emerged from the bathroom—after who knows how long—she didn't expect to found him—the Uchiha Sasuke—to be waiting; his back against the wall, hands shoved inside his pockets, eyes closed. She took a hesitant step towards him, determined—no matter how painful it was—to see him closer. When she was close enough, she raised her right hand, attempting to reach for his face, before he grabbed her wrist. And without as much sparing her a glance, he dragged her towards the hotel foyer, towards the exit, where a shining black limousine awaits them.

[heck, she might not even be Sakura.

But he knew it was her.

A decade later yet he could still recognize her perfume—he was the one who gave it to her, after all.]

An awkward silence enveloped them as they sat inside the limousine, that was heading who knows where, and her wrist was still tightly clutched by the man she hadn't seen for a decade—and mind you, avoided for the past seven years.

"Sasuke," she started softly but he interrupted her, still not sparing her a glance.

[...why don't you just call me Sasuke-_kun_, just the way you used to?]

"Just don't talk," he told her weakly, "I'm tired." Her eyes widen in horror, another stream of tears were once again threatening to fall from her eyes. He had never shown her his weak side, _never._

"...I thought you'd have grown up already, Sasuke-kun. Grew old enough to know that reality doesn't exists."

"Well, at least I didn't _give up _believing."

[and he knew she knew that he knew, because she didn't say anything anymore.]

"Naruto," her voice shook—attempting to argue—as she said the name she hadn't said for years, "gave up. He... stopped believing. And he was the one who kept saying 'believe it!'"

This time, he didn't just spare her a glance, he glared at her. The grip on her wrist was tightening at a considerable rate.

[he never looked at me like that, he knew she must be thinking that.]

"Well, you might've been as well dead."

"...well, I was—!"

He pressed his lips against her soft pink ones before pulling away to gaze back outside the window.

[She knew he turned away so she wouldn't that smirk across his face.]

"It doesn't matter," he said with finality in his tone, "I just revived you."

* * *

><p><em>What would you do if I die, Sasuke-<em>kun?

[he hated it when she asked him trivial things like that.]

_What would you do? _[she asked again, annoying.]

[but he hated it more to think that she'd have to leave him _someday_]

_I guess_—he said this with an air of seriousness—_I'd just have to revive you._

[he smirked when her eyes widened. She was speechless for a while, just a while.] _How?_

_I don't know—_he said that nonchalantly, not allowing her to predict that next words that'd come out of his mouth—_maybe I'd have to resuscitate you?  
><em>

* * *

><p>VII. long overdue<p>

They stepped out of the limousine. They were in the middle of nowhere but she didn't care anymore, because _he_ was _there_—with her.

Swiftly, he knelt before her. He was looking up to her, his eyes shining with determination. He held out his left palm, where petite black velvet box sat—encasing who knows what.

"It has been six years, Sakura. You're promise is long overdue. So I won't give you a choice, anymore. Just say 'yes' so people won't think that our feelings aren't mutual—and don't give me that look! because I know they are—you must know that I won't be asking you. So just say yes."

She smiled at him—and for the first time in ten years, it was genuine—and uttered the word he was demanding her to say softly, "Yes."

[that night, she wanted to cry—this time, though of happiness—but not a single tear emerged from her eyes. that was when she realized that she had long exhausted her tears for the wrong reasons.]

* * *

><p><em>Let's get married!<em>

[he looked at her ridiculously]

_Not now, you know!—_she said when she saw how his eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets—_later, when... we're older._

_You're crazy._

_But you love me, don't you, Sasuke-kun?_

_.hn._

_So yeah, it's decided! We'll get married when we're old enough to get married!_

[he stared at her. Aren't guys the ones who are supposed to be saying these kind of things?]

_...well—_she says, as if reading his thoughts—_I know you're too stuck up to say these things and by the time you loosened up to say these things, I'm already swept off my feet by the man of my dreams!_

[he had to quirk an eyebrow at that.] _So I'm not what you dubbed to be your _man of your dreams, _huh?_

_No—_she says as she shook her head—_no, Sasuke-kun. You can't be the man of my _dreams _because you're my reality.  
><em>

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

She never liked diamonds,

and she wasn't too fond of rubies.

Sapphires were out of question as well.

She said they were too _clichéd_.

She said those gems were the gems often used in films, novels, and what-not.

So she wanted something different;

something unique.

Nothing too expensive, nothing too ordinary.

And he agreed with her,

Because she was anything but ordinary.

.

.

.

He presented her with a ring of white gold—she never liked yellow gold, either—where a purplish blue stone sat. As he slipped the ring into her slender finger, the angle changed, as did the colour of the stone.

She gasped when she realised what the stone was—

—it was an iolite.

[she loved it because its colour changes at different angles—just like how Sasuke, despite the changes occurred in their lives, was still the same.]

* * *

><p><em>Oi, dobe. You owe me $1000.<em>

_Heck, no I don't, teme!_

_You do._

_But I don't remember... _[he gasped, finally catching on.]

[he smirked.]

_You found Sakura-chan? How? Where? When? Where is she, teme? I _can't_ believe she actually said _yes! _I wanna talk to her! I—teme?_[he paused]

[only then did he realize what his older brother meant]

—_teme? You still there?_

[then suddenly he felt grateful to his older brother]

* * *

><p><em>I'm so sorry, Naruto. I didn't mean to—<em>

[oh how he wanted to castrate that blond freak, and break those arms that were so intimately wrapped around his _fiancée's_ slender body]

_I missed you so much, Sakura-chan! I'm glad Sasuke _finally _found you._

[after all, she deserved to be _found._]

.

.

.

Some people dream;

Because they wanted to escape from the reality.

Some people hide;

Because they wanted to be found.

Some people do not give up;

Because they wanted to believe.

Some people do not believe in dreams;

Because they look for _the_ reality.

And _they_ fit in this category.

.

.

.

End.

**\\ **how did I fare, folks? This is my first SasuSaku, so yeah. I apologize for the major OOCness. And if the timeline confused people, because of the ones written on the centre in between the dots, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you _not to_ pay attention on _that_ timeline.**\\**


	4. xxii: prom

title: [prom]

summary: It was the one night lovers should attend together.

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

Because forbidden love is an overrated cliché

.

.

.

Soft, mellow music began to fill the ballroom as the King and Queen of the night led the first dance of the night.

Green eyes watched them sway to the music together. They looked so perfect in each other's arms. How she wished...

Shaking her head softly, she chastised herself. That night was supposed to be special—it was the night she dreamt about her whole life; she couldn't let her misfortune in the matter of love ruin it.

However, as she watched the guys approach a girl—offering their hands with a smile, she knew she could no longer stay in there.

She just couldn't.

No matter how she wanted to be not bitter, she just couldn't.

Why did life have to be so damningly unfair?

Grabbing her purse off what she only then realized to be empty table—when did they leave? The thought only furthered the bitterness and jealousy she was feeling—she headed out of the ballroom.

Teachers smiled at her as she passed by their tables on her quest to exit the ballroom, complimenting her dress and asking if she was enjoying herself.

Putting up a fake facade that only reflected 'happiness,' she answered that she was.

However when they asked _why_ she wasn't out on the dance floor, like the rest of her peers were, she immediately excused herself.

She breathed out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the carpeted floor outside the ballroom.

She just couldn't stay there.

Not in a place where couples were in each others' arms where they belonged.

Where did that leave her then?

"Sakura!" a familiar voice erupted a few feet from her.

Quickly, she turned to the direction of her caller—

She dropped her purse on the carpet.

"Sasuke?" she whispered in disbelief, emerald eyes shining in shock.

She could not believe he'd be there; she could not believe he was even there.

As Sasuke approached her, she noticed how he was wearing a purple tie underneath his suit. How did he even know the colour of her dress?

Once they were only at arm's length, she threw herself towards him, and he caught her in his arms, holding her to his chest—and she realized that _this_ was the answer to her question, _this was _where she belonged.

"Why didn't tell me you were coming?" her voice was muffled as she buried her face on his shoulder.

His arms tightened around her. "I didn't want to disappoint you in case I didn't make it. And besides, your dad..."

She only further pressed her face against his shoulder, rubbing her right cheek against his sleek black suit.

"Stop rubbing your face, you'd ruin your makeup," he told her in a reprimanding tone.

"Since when did you care about a girl's makeup?"

The playful growl against her neck told her he didn't like his sexuality being questioned.

Sakura missed having these moments with him. God, how she missed him. If only...

"I fucking missed you."

"I missed you, too."

"I've got an idea. Let's elope."

"What?"

She pulled away from him, but not entirely, just enough to look at him in the eye—he was serious.

A frown curved down her lips.

"Sasuke..."

They couldn't. As much as she wanted to, it wasn't the solution. It wasn't the answer.

"Don't you love me anymore, Sakura?"

"Sasuke... please, don't do this."

"Your answer, Sakura," he deadpanned, withdrawing his arms from her waist to cup her face between his hands.

She gazed into his dark eyes...

Of course she loved—_loves_—him, and he was a fool to question it. After all these years, he was all she ever loved. And honestly, she didn't think she'd ever love another as much as loved him.

However, what he was asking of her was...

"_This _isn't the way, Sasuke. We'd only make the situation worse."

He scoffed. "It's bad enough as it is, how bad could it get?"

"Can we talk about this after tonight?" when he gave a disapproving look, she continued, "I promise after this, we'll talk about it."

He sighed, giving up. Removing his hands from her face and taking a step away from her, he held out his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

"Here?"

"Sure," he shrugged, "considering how I am not allowed inside."

They'll discuss their problems later but until then, they'd dance in each others arms without a care for the world.

The end.

* * *

><p>a's note: done in less than an hour. i don't know where this came from. i was supposed to be sleeping but then i couldn't so here it is! i apologize for the mistakes. oh, got to go. it's almost 4am.<p> 


End file.
